Three Thousand Court Ladies - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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White Sand Fire
Gye-san nearly laughed aloud.
Born a prince, yet grown so shallow—that was no easy feat. Educated so well, yet capable of such stupidity.
A man admirable in every wrong way.
“It’s your mother’s affection you can sway, not mine. You’re not asking me to quietly dispose of Buyeo Hui, are you?”
“Even if Buyeo Hui disappeared, my mother would never choose me.”
So layered were his troubles that Gye-san raised an eyebrow.
“Then what?”
“Both must vanish at once for it to become mine. I know it’s difficult. If you succeed, I’ll transfer half my business rights to you. Not immediately—but progressively.”
Tae spoke with reddened face, voice straining.
It was laughable—he believed he could barter what wasn’t his.
And to ask that both Jung-bu-in Baek-ssi and Buyeo Hui disappear simultaneously? It was absurd enough to genuinely intrigue him.
“If Buyeo Hui vanishes, won’t Jung-bu-in Baek-ssi’s resentment ease?”
He asked as though testing him, but Tae shook his head without hesitation.
“No. If something happens to him, she’ll suspect me and seek revenge.”
“Impossible. Haven’t they said no parent can resist their child?”
Tae’s face deepened to crimson. Unable to answer, lost in frustration, he drew Gye-san’s narrowed gaze.
Surely he wasn’t illegitimate.
The pieces didn’t align perfectly overall, but taken purely from this conversation, the possibility existed.
“I can sign a contract. Please consider it. That alone is my path to survival.”
Having decided to investigate further, Gye-san spoke with greater warmth.
“Jung-bu-in Baek-ssi is a difficult adversary.”
“Time doesn’t matter. I can wait.”
“I’ll think on whether a way exists.”
Gye-san withdrew a heavy pouch from his robe and extended it.
“Take this. The restrictions here are strict—I could manage only this much.”
The pouch he offered was filled with thick strips of dried meat. For one confined to Jongamsa, it was a luxury beyond imagining.
“Brother…”
Tae accepted the pouch of dried meat as though cradling something precious.
“I’ll visit again. Endure well.”
“Yes, brother. Please consider it. I beg you.”
Gye-san regarded Tae, flush with hope, then rose from the porch.
“If I devise a method, I’ll send someone.”
“Only family can ascend this place.”
“If you stick to the prescribed path, that’s true. But one could always scale the cliff from the other side, couldn’t one?”
Tae’s eyes widened. It meant he would send subordinates capable of climbing this cliff.
“Could you possibly help me escape?”
“That would be easier, perhaps. But then you’d have to surrender everything. You’d wander as a criminal—would that suit you?”
At his words, Tae withdrew the request at once.
“No. I cannot. I will reclaim what is mine.”
“Don’t come out.”
“Go carefully.”
Escorted by Tae, Gye-san departed the hermitage with light steps. He had obtained, unintentionally, information worth using.
There was something deeper between Jung-bu-in Baek-ssi and Tae.
Following the side path down toward Jongamsa, he found a nun standing alone at a fork in the road.
She bowed her palms together at the sight of him.
“Your Highness, what brings you here?”
“I was passing and stopped by. It’s a pity how things turned out.”
“It was my failure. You retrieved something precious, yet here I am apologizing. Now, what will become of that child?”
“Won’t execution follow soon enough?”
“Then I must pray for her peace.”
“Your faith seems to have deepened considerably.”
“It has been so long, after all.”
The nun, Hae-ssi, turned briefly toward where Sabigung lay.
“Is she trustworthy?”
“Five years ago, she provided medicine for my dying child.”
“Then she holds a hostage. But torture conquers all things.”
“Even if that child’s heart changes, Your Highness should suffer no harm.”
“It had better be so. Have I done nothing deserving protection?”
“You have.”
Hae-ssi answered with composure, truly believing the spy would not betray the truth.
“Maternal love is a strange thing, isn’t it? My own mother possesses none, yet why do other women overflow with it?”
“I too have no child, so I cannot say.”
“Still, have no fear. His Majesty too seems to find that girl Gye-san rather irksome.”
“That is pleasing to hear. Your Highness’s countenance has grown brighter.”
“Has it? These days have brought much amusement. I’ll visit again.”
Having exchanged these words, Gye-san resumed his path.
Walking through the forest, something fell upon his hair. When he touched it, a white, sticky clump clung to his fingers.
“Bird droppings?”
Gye-san’s face contorted.
He wiped it away with a handkerchief and flicked it aside. Brushing off the stickiness, he entered Jongamsa’s main hall where his attendant fell into step behind him. Gye-san offered smiling bows to those he passed, then exited through the main gate and boarded his carriage. As he departed Jongamsa and observed the slowly changing landscape, children’s voices singing in a group caught his ear.
At a subtle gesture from Gye-san, his mounted attendant approached and bowed.
“What are your orders?”
“I wish that song to spread faster. Lend support without drawing notice. Let’s see what unfolds.”
“Yes. It shall be done.”
Gye-san recalled Sam-cheon, who had spoken last night of capturing a spy, meeting his gaze directly. She was indeed too fine for Gye-san.
A Celestial Maiden belongs at the king’s side.
“No. That girl is mine to take.”
“Our commander, are preparations complete?”
Sam-cheon set down her list of supplies and fixed a glare on the grinning Yong-yong. He looked weary, as though he’d only just returned since the evening star rose.
“Don’t call me that.”
“How else should we address a commander but by her rank?”
“I asked you not to.”
Sam-cheon placed her hands on her hips, but Yong-yong paid no heed.
“While the council decides, most tactics emerge from your head, don’t they?”
“I only offer opinions.”
Those opinions, however, were accepted with high probability. But they remained suggestions; final decisions came through council, with Gye-san making the call.
“Once tactics are set, you arrange troop placements and draw up budgets.”
“……That’s true.”
Yong-yong tended to dodge, and Geum was somewhat slower. Sam-cheon simply handled it for efficiency.
“That’s entirely the commander’s work. You are the commander.”
“I told you not to call me that.”
She clenched her teeth and shot him a look, and Yong-yong raised both hands in surrender.
“Where is the princess? She wasn’t at the Command Barracks.”
“She’s avoiding me—hiding off somewhere.”
Yong-yong laughed loudly. She had stirred up trouble and fled to escape Sam-cheon’s scolding.
“She wanted to protect you.”
“I know. But she should have claimed the credit for herself.”
Her position was precarious even now; sharing the credit with Sam-cheon would invite endless talk. Sam-cheon resented that Gye-san had borne the risk and made it public.
It was a decision made purely for Sam-cheon’s sake.
“Actually, I came to say thank you.”
At Yong-yong’s abrupt shift, Sam-cheon’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“To me?”
She questioned lightly, but Yong-yong answered with utter seriousness.
“For trusting Dan-ju and Dam-no. I didn’t expect you’d accept them so readily.”
How much kindness had she received, and now he spoke of her rejecting them? As for trust—
“I believed in Yong-yong.”
Yong-yong fell silent, struck by unexpected words.
“So don’t speak of leaving or any such thing. I’ll do everything in my power to solve the Wol-rang Group’s troubles.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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